Your AI sub-brand is confusing the sh*t out of your customers

There is an arms race in AI for B2B companies. 

 “Every single meeting is about AI,” says a Sales Exec from a leading global fintech.

“There is so much AI coming at us. What is helpful? What is safe? We don’t know where to begin,” says that firm’s customer.

 Why do firms think the best answer to these questions is to create yet another brand for their customers to know?

Do you really need to create an AI sub-brand?

AI can be confusing enough for your customers. Why force them to figure out (1) what “Darla” does that's better AND that (2) Darla delivers those benefits as an intrinsic part of the solution you are already selling?

I get the competitive pressures. Your peers are promoting a shiny new toy. Why shouldn’t you? (“Hey, we have Darla, our AI agentic solution).

I get the concerns about perceptions of AI being at the forefront - and the internal pressures to brand it and market it. (“Wow, our competitor just launched Darla!”)

And I get the cherry-picked examples SaaS execs use to justify this kind of approach. (i.e. “Darla is like Gemini.”)

To the everyone else is doing it argument, that should be your first indication to use a different approach.

To the need to feel leading edge, that is a messaging and positioning issue that naming is not going to solve.

And, citing some of the world‘s most powerful technology companies as if they are apples-to-apples comparisons, well, maybe there are some other factors that come into play: market ubiquity, massive distribution and deep pockets, to name a few.

Beware of undermining your integrated promise

“We are selling individual widgets, but we try to present ourselves as an integrated platform. It creates confusion and erodes trust. It doesn’t make sense,” says a software engineer from a leading global fintech.

If you aspire to the story of an integrated platform designed to solve a range of needs for your customers, sub-brands will get in the way every time.

Sub-brands create added layers of confusion and convey separation - when you’re trying to tell a story of unity and simplicity. Do your customers really need another brand to better understand the value you deliver?

Look, sub-brands are a great tool to help you tell your brand story. I’d be happy to help you create just the right brand to do that. But you’re better off finding someone like me to help you make the case internally that brandng your AI tool is reactive and counterproductive.

If you want to strengthen and simplify your AI story, your approach to branding might be a good place to start.